A.G. Gancarski
Fabien Levy, communications manager for Mayor Alvin Brown’s re-election campaign the past couple of months, has left the campaign in the past 24 to 48 hours, according to two knowledgeable sources. It was a “amicable” parting, the sources said, as the campaign calibrates its message heading into the May 19 runoff election.
The source stressed that the re-election team is largely intact, including its leadership structure, and rejected characterizations that the move was a shakeup.
Levy was the communications director for the campaign of former Louisiana U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, who lost her race in November to current Sen. Bill Cassidy. Lenny Curry‘s campaign manager, Brian Swensen, was Cassidy’s political director.
Levy will thrive in the right situation, the source predicted. Both sides saw the change as beneficial.
The campaign is going to refine its communications efforts in the coming days, and clearly part of that is the staff change.
Levy’s tenure with the Brown campaign has received mixed reviews from reporters dealing with the campaign, many of whom found Levy slow to respond to questions, especially when compared with the opposition. Later in the campaign, Levy became famous in the small circle of Northeast Florida political reporters for his blast “fact check” emails, “correcting” statements made by Curry or Bill Bishop in debates, and the like.
Isaiah Nelson, a South Carolina political operative, remains the campaign manager. Andrew Gernt, who came from Rhode Island, will still handle communications.
